Ok, y'all, I think John Snyder is growing on me. Hence all of my Bochra stories. Well, now I figure it's time to write about his other Star Trek character. See? I am capable of writing non-Romulan romances! By the way, Mr. Snyder, if you ever read this, PLEASE leave me a review! Yeah, yeah, I know, fat chance of that actually happening…
The idea for this drabble came to me while I was listening to the song "I Could Fall in Love" performed by Selena.
"Perhaps it is your imperfections that make you so unique. But I am in love with you, Deanna Troi, and I will always be..."
After speaking those words, Aaron Conor walked away from Deanna Troi, fully aware that it was the last time he would ever see her again. He didn't look back…and yet, he knew that her lovely, though imperfect, face would never fade from his memory. That was why she had captivated him, for the very reason that she wasn't perfect. She was unique. There was not another like her anywhere. Especially not here on Moab IV.
Nevertheless, he should never have allowed himself to fall for her, never should have acted on his own selfish inclinations. It was the biggest mistake—really the only mistake—of his life. No matter how many times he ran through the events in his mind, he could not bring himself to even think that he would have done anything differently.
The transgression was entirely his, he berated himself. It was his fault that his people were going to suffer for generations, his fault that things would never be the same again. Worst of all, it was his fault for hurting Deanna.
Deanna Troi…her name was burned onto his heart permanently. It would always be a scar, a wound that would never heal. In this case, an enhanced retentive ability was nothing but a curse. Never in his life had he ever been so tormented. And it would never end. One day, much too soon, he knew she would belong to another. Probably Riker, he mused sadly.
Commander Riker had been jealous from the start. Aaron could tell that he and Deanna had been in a previous relationship. It was written all over Riker's face. So why didn't he do anything about it? He was serving on the same ship with her! Why did he just stand by and do nothing, day after day? How could he have possibly let her go to start with? Silly as it was, a part of Aaron wished that he could somehow change places with Riker.
For all the colonists blamed Hannah Bates and the others for leaving, it was really him they should be pointing their fingers at. He had done far worse than all of the dissidents put together. And to add to his culpability, his heart wanted to leave with them, though his head wouldn't allow it. His entire genetic being wouldn't allow it.
And yet, if he could do it all again, he would, in exactly the same way.
"To err is human…" he thought to himself with a wry smile. How ironic. But Alexander Pope was a flawed person. Still, Aaron wasn't God, he was a merely a man, albeit a genetically engineered man. Perhaps he wasn't so perfect after all.
No, he was human, he decided at last. So maybe there was no such thing as a "masterpiece society." Maybe there was no way to be human without being flawed in some way or another. Great minds and philosophers had argued that very point for thousands of years. Though they were not selectively bred as he had been, Aaron could not help but believe that they were right.